“Our process can be used by anyone in their own home without any specialised biology lab equipment. For instance, we show a way to replace expensive lab equipment with a cheap blender, pressure cooker and a cool box. And the software pipeline we developed takes all the complexities associated with the process out of the way, so you can transform your designs into growable formats without worrying about all the underlying technical details.
“Another area we work in is creating assistive devices for people living with disabilities or chronic health conditions. We often collaborate with developing countries like Sri Lanka where costs and accessibility of materials is a big problem. This method will allow us to grow things easily with locally accessible organic waste at a fraction of the cost,” he said.
With increasing scarcity of natural resources and environmental concerns, there is a growing interest in sustainable fabrication approaches. In 2021 CSIRO identified waste cardboard and paper as an opportunity for development in the circular economy of Australia.
“Our process presents a huge opportunity. For instance, Australia being a large country, with many remote regions, supply chain is a big problem. I think methods like what we propose can bring a fundamental shift in the way we think about supply chains. In future, your next appliance could be grown out of the organic waste out of your kitchen bin, instead of plastics or metal that needs to be transported from far away,” said Dr Withana.
“Traditional manufacturing is also energy intensive. Plastics are made from fossil fuels that need to be extracted, transported across the globe, processed, and fabricated,” said Dr Gough.
“Our work turns this on its head. Myco-materials are energy efficient and can even be a carbon sink. They derive their energy from the waste material, such as sawdust, cardboard or coffee grounds.
“As a designer, it’s interesting to work with a material that grows and expresses some agency in the way it looks. On top of that, we are only just discovering what it is useful for so we can’t wait to see what else we can make,” he said.
The team are now exploring how they can 3D print with myco-materials directly, allowing them to work on a larger scale and use less material overall.
Declaration: This project was funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (DECRA) – DE200100479. Dr Anusha Withana is the recipient of a DECRA funded by the Australian Government.